Word: panamas
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...Panama's controversial canal is not the only thing in that country under water; so, too, is its economy. During the past several years of hot debate and demonstrations over the fate of the canal, moneyed Panamanians and foreign investors have been reluctant to sink cash into the country. They are even less willing to do so now, fearing that Panama could be thrown into turmoil if the U.S. Senate fails to ratify the canal treaties. But if the treaties are adopted, Panamanians believe, investment, and their economy, will surge...
Like other oil-importing countries, Panama was savaged by the OPEC-induced recession. Torrijos' populist policies did not aid recovery. A law making it difficult for landlords to evict rent-delinquent tenants halted private housing construction, and new hiring has been discouraged by labor regulations that make the firing of employees a byzantine process. In 1973 the government concluded that salvation lay in growing more sugar: the industry is labor-intensive and world prices were high, but they have since fallen. Recently the government warned that 20,000 more workers will be idled and the economy will tumble into...
...terms of hard cash, ratified treaties would hardly be a panacea. The canal now contributes, indirectly, some $250 million a year to the economy in the form of wages of Panamanians, local purchases by the U.S. Government, and so forth. Panama gets $2.3 million in an annual payment from the U.S. for the right to run the canal. After ratification, the Torrijos government would get a cut of canal operations. It is counting on $60 million the first year, rising to $90 million annually by the year 2000. That presumes a 30% increase in canal tolls. But tolls have already...
...promised Panama $290 million in loans over the five years following ratification, plus $50 million in military aid over ten years. This income, says Pedro Rognoni, president of Panama's Industrial Association, "will not solve the economic problem-that will be solved only by production." There are many possibilities for development. The Cerro Colorado copper deposit, near...
...country's biggest export, and there is ample room for more plantations if money can be found to continue clearing the green jungle. Shrimp is already big business, and the World Bank is financing the construction of a fishing port at Vacamonte on the Pacific coast. Though Panama's lone cement plant, which is privately owned, is now operating at only half of its capacity, the government is finishing up a new $68 million plant of its own that is scheduled to begin production late this year. Torrijos' advisers are sure that with recovery, both plants will...